RIT Student Team Wins Second Place in Interface Design: Microsoft Silverlight Challenge

Jennifer Salavarietta, a resident of Piscataway, N.J., and a fourth-year student at Rochester Institute of Technology, was part of the student team that won second place in the Interface Design: Microsoft Silverlight Challenge, a part of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup competition.

Salavarietta, a new media design and imaging major, and team member Eric Wamsley, an RIT applied networking and systems administration major, were awarded $5000 and a trip to the HOW Design Conference in Boston, Mass., where they demonstrated their prototype.

The teams were challenged to incorporate Microsoft Silverlight and Windows Live Services in a well-designed Web-based user interface addressing the theme of “enabling a sustainable environment.” Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.

Each student team initially developed user interface storyboards and then working prototypes.

“Our unique interface is an original way to get users enticed through a visually appealing social networking site that is fun, rewarding, easy to understand, and will get people excited to save our planet, ” says Salavarietta.

Adam Smith, RIT assistant professor of new media design imaging, adds: “We are thrilled to be honored. It’s a testament to RIT’s mission to foster student collaborations combining art, design and technology, entities which cannot exist in real-world applications without the other.”

About RIT

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging technology, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for students with hearing loss. More than 15,800 full- and part-time students are enrolled in RIT’s 340 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For nearly two decades, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT among the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. The Princeton Review features RIT in its 2007 Best 361 Colleges rankings and named the university one of America’s “Most Wired Campuses.” RIT is also featured in Barron’s Best Buys in Education.

About Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer of software for personal and business computing. Microsoft provides an integrated platform and suite of online services that enables a seamless experience for designers and developers across platforms and applications.

About Imagine Cup™

The world’s premier student technology competition, Imagine Cup is one way Microsoft Corp. is encouraging young people to apply their imagination, passion and creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world today. Now in its sixth year, the Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real world issues with more than 100,000 students from over 100 countries and regions in the world entering last year’s competition.